‘Erratic and Unpredictable’: Carol Burnett’s Daughter Stripped of Visitation For 16-year-old Son, Lawyer Demands Random Drug Testing
Aug. 22 2023, Published 11:00 a.m. ET
Carol Burnett’s troubled daughter has been accused of violating the court order over visitation of her son that was placed under a conservatorship due to her long struggle with drugs, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has stripped Erin Hamilton of all visitation with her 16-year-old son Dylan.
Carol has been in and out of court for years trying to help her grandson.
Back in 2020, Carol and her husband Brian Miller filed to be named temporary guardians of their grandson. The duo explained their daughter Erin had suffered “severe substance abuse and addiction issues.”
The comedian told the court, “In the past 19 years, Erin has been in and out of rehabilitation centers and has been institutionalized a total of eight times for a minimum of 30 days each time.”
In court documents, Carol and her husband explained Erin had threatened to take her own life and had even been recently placed on a 5150 hold by police. She said the incident led to her filing for a conservatorship of her grandson to take him out of his “unstable, unpredictable” situation.
Comic Legend Carol Burnett obtained guardianship of her teen grandson as her daughter fought addiction.
Carol said things were so bad that The Department of Children and Family Services investigated Erin in 2018 and 2019. The entertainer said Dylan’s father had his own issues and was unable to take care of his son.
The court ended up appointing Carol and Brian as temporary guardians. Months later, the comedian asked the court to put a third party named Jodi Pais Montgomery in charge. Jodi had previously worked as a co-conservator in Britney Spears’ now-terminated conservatorship.
As part of the case, Erin was granted visitation with her son. She was allowed to have monitored visits once per week for two hours.
Carol has been open about her daughter's struggles with drug addiction.
In the recent report, the court-appointed lawyer representing Dylan said he is “doing really well.” The minor will start his senior year of high school and is looking forward to applying for college, per the filing.
“Dylan very much enjoys spending time with his father as well as his many friends in Los Angeles. Additionally, Dylan continues to enjoy a loving relationship with his grandmother and her husband.”
The report said, “Much of 2022, and in 2022, up until July 2023, the guardian worked really hard to ensure that Dylan could have regular monitored contact with his mother Erin Hamilton via Zoom calls, efforts were made to have visits on a weekly basis.”
The lawyer said Erin has been living in Hawaii since she was appointed. She said all of Erin’s calls were to be monitored by the guardian. However, while living in Hawaii, Erin allegedly started to not comply with the court order and attempted to contact Dylan without informing the guardian.
The report said Erin moved back to California last month but has not contacted Dylan’s guardian to arrange visits per the court order.
The lawyer said that in early August 2023, Erin apparently “ran into” Dylan and his father at a market near their home. “Reportedly because of the coincidence of the encounter, the 3 then proceeded to have dinner at the restaurant next to the market where the alleged chance encounter took place. The incident was not reported to guardian Jodi after the incident by either mother, father or Dylan. Nevertheless, Jodi has since been made aware of the incident.”
The lawyer said it is unclear how Erin knew Dylan would be at the exact location, “this incident is a brazen violation of this court’s orders by mother. It is unclear why mother acts as if the clear and specific orders made by this court do no apply to her.”
“Mother has a long history of struggling with substance use. It is unknown if the mother is clean and sober at this time,” the lawyer said. The lawyer asked that Erin’s visitation be suspended for 4-6 months.
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Further, the lawyer asked that due to Erin’s “erratic and unpredictable conduct,” she requested that Erin submit to random, weekly 10-panel urine tests.
“Any missed tests to be considered dirty tests. Costs of the random, weekly testing to be borne by mother,” the filing requested.
At the hearing, the judge sided with the lawyer and suspended Erin’s visits with her son. The parties will appear in court in January where Erin has been ordered to appear.
After filing for a conservatorship, Carol released a statement on the matter.
"Due to addiction issues and other circumstances that my daughter, Erin, has been struggling with impacting her immediate family dynamic, my husband and I have petitioned the court to be appointed legal guardian of my 14-year-old grandson," she said.
"Guardianship will be for oversight purposes concerning his health, education and welfare and not intended to deny him nor the parents proper visitation with one another. We look forward to recovery being the next stepping stone towards normalization and ask for privacy at this time to allow that process to occur," Burnett added.
